Tobi Amusan, Favour Ofili, Ese Brume Absent as World Athletics Unveils Final Entry List for Indoor Championships

• Top Nigerian athletes Tobi Amusan, Favour Ofili, and Ese Brume will not compete at the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing.
• Chukwuebuka Enekwechi and Chidi Okezie headline Nigeria’s nine-member squad for the event, scheduled from March 21 to 23.
• The championship will feature 576 athletes from 127 countries, including 20 Olympic medallists from Paris 2024 and 11 defending world champions.

World Athletics has released the final entry list for the upcoming World Athletics Indoor Championships, with top Nigerian athletes Tobi Amusan, Favour Ofili, and Ese Brume notably missing from Team Nigeria’s lineup.

The prestigious competition will be held in Nanjing, China, from March 21 to 23, featuring elite athletes from around the globe.

In the absence of Nigeria’s most celebrated names, shot put specialist Chukwuebuka Enekwechi and 400m sprinter Chidi Okezie are set to lead a nine-member Nigerian squad. The team also includes Temitope Adeshina, the NCAA women’s indoor high jump champion; Ezekiel Nathaniel, Africa’s indoor 400m record holder; and Prestina Ochonogor, a finalist at the Paris Olympics. Rounding out the team are Edidiong Udo, James Onwuka, Ifeanyi Ojeli, and Joshua Caleb.

Team Nigeria comprises seven men and two women, who will compete in events including the high jump, long jump, 400m, shot put, and the men’s 4x400m relay.

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According to World Athletics, 576 athletes from 127 countries have been confirmed for the championships, including 264 women and 312 men. The field boasts 11 defending champions from the previous edition in Glasgow and 20 Olympic medallists from Paris 2024.

High-profile defending champions heading to Nanjing include world record holders Mondo Duplantis (pole vault), Devynne Charlton (60m hurdles), and Grant Holloway (60m hurdles), along with Molly Caudery (pole vault), Tsige Duguma (800m), Hamish Kerr (high jump), Thea Lafond (triple jump), Sarah Mitton (shot put), Nicola Olyslagers (high jump), Miltiadis Tentoglou (long jump), and Hugues Fabrice Zango (triple jump).

Several of these stars—including Duplantis, Holloway, Kerr, Lafond, and Tentoglou—clinched Olympic gold in Paris and return to the indoor stage with high expectations. They will be joined by fellow Olympic champions Yaroslava Mahuchikh (high jump) and Jakob Ingebrigtsen (1500m and 3000m), both of whom also hold world records.

Among the host nation’s top contenders are Gong Lijiao, China’s Olympic and two-time world shot put champion, and Zhu Yaming, a two-time global medallist in the triple jump.

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